


♫ If You’re Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands ♫

by sandean_cas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Apple Pie Life (Supernatural), Castiel Makes a Deal with The Shadow (Supernatural), Castiel and Dean Winchester Falling in Love, Castiel and Dean Winchester Have a Profound Bond, Castiel and Dean Winchester Need to Use Their Words, Castiel and Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester are Jack Kline's Parents, Castiel and Dean Winchester in Love, Castiel in the Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Castiel is Not Oblivious (Supernatural), Castiel is Not Okay (Supernatural), Castiel is Protective of Dean Winchester, Castiel is a Winchester (Supernatural), Castiel's Tan Trenchcoat (Supernatural), Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Dean Winchester Loves Castiel, Dean Winchester is Bad at Feelings, Dean Winchester is Not Amused, Dean Winchester is Not Oblivious, Dean Winchester is Saved, Dean Winchester is So Done, Episode: s15e03 The Rupture, Episode: s15e09 The Trap - Dean Winchester's Prayer Scene, Feelings, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pain, Post-Episode: s15e09 The Trap, Poughkeepsie, Quote: Angels are watching over you. (Supernatural), Quote: Family Don't End With Blood (Supernatural), Quote: He's in love with humanity (Supernatural), Quote: I'll just wait here then. (Supernatural: The End), Quote: I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition. (Supernatural), Quote: We are. (Supernatural: Raising Hell), Season/Series 15 Speculation, Team Free Will 2.0 (Supernatural), This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:40:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24048340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandean_cas/pseuds/sandean_cas
Summary: Dean fiddles with his glass. “I uh, now that this is over. Now that we can have a normal life. I’ve been thinking of starting something.”Dean Winchester’s love. He knows that he must have it; in a certain capacity. But he wants it to be different. He wants Dean’s love to be of the same caliber as his… from the same deep seated desire.“I’m happy for you Dean.”“No you’re not.” He says with a dry look. “Do you want to at least meet them?”Castiel would rather jump into hell but okay.“Where is she?”...Surveying the room, he finds nothing out of place. Castiel wonders where Dean’s lady is.In typical Dean fashion, he saunters up to the closet and rips it open.Really?Castiel walks closer anyway, curiosity waring with his jealousy.He looks inside and finds nothing.“Do you see them?” Dean questions eagerly.“No.” he says sourly.Dean rolls his eyes. “Look closer.”Castiel looks for the hell of it. And nothing. Big surprise.“I see nothing but your lumberjack clothes and this infuriating mirror.”Dean chuckles at his discomfort. “And who’s in the mirror, jackass?”Castiel looks back, just to confirm.“Me?”
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 34
Kudos: 180





	♫ If You’re Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands ♫

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to read the more depressing version of this, you can find it here:  
> [♫ If You’re Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands ♫](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22394659/chapters/57869131)

“We did it Cass.”

The smile that breaks out on Dean’s face is nothing short of age-lifting. His face is open, his eyes shine bright, thinking of all the possibilities. His body, where just a few days ago was weighed down by fear and hatred now soars in response to all the new possibilities that have opened up. His smile is bright, his soul fluttering in delight. Castiel loves bearing witness to this.

Castiel always knew that Dean’s soul could look like this.

It just needed the right catalyst.

This is the ending they craved.

This is the ending they never thought would come to pass.

This isn’t an ending at all… it’s a beginning. For the Winchesters, for Castiel and Jack, for the world that they freed from the tyrant fanboy.

Castiel feels the euphoria of their win too, as he looks to Dean and Sam and Jack.

Sam embraces Dean with a force that almost topples them both over. It’s rare that they get such a big win. Such a _final_ win without someone dying. But it’s over.

And they can be happy.

Jack crushes him to his chest, he can feels his child’s smile on his shoulder, the relief he feels as he sags into Castiel. This had been especially taxing for Jack. He suspects once the euphoria and adrenaline run out, Jack will crash.

And he can finally do so in peace. There will be no new monster. There will be no new threat. There will be no more hurt and despair for the Winchesters.

…

Castiel sips his drink as Dean plonks next to him. His own glass is filled to the brim, though, not with whiskey. He’s trying some of Sam’s homemade pineapple juice. At first, he insisted that the possibility of boiling the skin sounded atrocious. But Sam did it anyway and added some sugar and spice.

Turns out the end result is delicious. Even Castiel enjoys it.

“Man. We need to plant a pineapple bush.”

“Tree.” Corrects Castiel with a grin.

“Pineapples grown on trees?” Dean wonders. “You’ve got to be shittin’ me.”

“That would be difficult to accomplish, given your size and that of my sphincter – and my mouth.” He observes.

Dean gags violently, spewing juice all over Castiel and his coat. Castiel pats him on the back. He supposes that was another human saying that he failed to grasp.

Dean comes down from his choking fit with a hoarse laugh. He grins brightly at Castiel. “I can always count on you to make me laugh – and almost kill me in a humiliating way.”

He scoffs at Dean’s expression. “What can I say? You’ve given me my true calling in life.”

“So…” Dean says, none too casually. “It’s been a while since… you know.”

“Since Chuck.” He supplies. “Since we saved the world.”

“Yeah.” Dean murmurs. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do?”

Castiel feels himself tense. This isn’t Dean asking him to leave is it? His face has almost the same expression as it did the last time. Castiel thought he could stick around… make a life with the brothers and Jack.

“Why?” he asks, clearly guarded.

“Because…” Dean responses, pausing to consider his next words. “Are you going to stay?” he says finally, unable to look directly at Castiel.

“You want me to stay?” His voice has a touch of disbelief.

“Always.” Dean replies sincerely.

“Then I’ll always stay.” Castiel says firmly. If Dean wants him to stay then … there’s really nothing more he can want from life is there?

“Good.” Dean says swiftly, his fingers fidgeting around the rim of his glass. “I uh, now that this is over. Now that we can… retire… have a normal life… I’ve been thinking of starting something… with someone.”

Ah, there it is, the something more he can want from life: Dean Winchester’s love. He knows that he must have it; in a certain capacity. But he wants it to be different. He wants Dean’s love to be of the same calibre as his… come from the same deep seated desire.

“I’m happy for you Dean.” He manages. He’s happy that Dean is happy and he’s sad that it can never be with him.

“No you’re not.” He says with a dry look.

Castiel feels the air shift between them. This is no longer an innocent, friendly discussion between friends. He knows that Dean has known about his unrequited feelings for some time. Out of decency he never mentioned it, but there was no denying that he knew.

“Do you want to meet them?” Dean asks, raising a brow challengingly.

Castiel would rather jump into hell but okay.

“Take me to her. Where is she?” he wonders as Dean stands.

Maybe he can find a way to redeem himself in Dean’s eyes.

“In my room.”

…

Castiel knows Dean’s room well, he passes by every day to see what Dean is doing… often at night, when the older Winchester is fast asleep. But he’s spent time here while Dean was awake too. There were a lot of fun times.

Surveying the room, he finds nothing immediately out of place.

He wonders where Dean’s lady is.

In typical Dean fashion, he saunters up to the closet and rips it open.

Really?

Castiel walks closer anyway, curiosity waring with his jealousy.

He looks inside and finds nothing. Nothing but clothes and the a mirror.

“Do you see them?” Dean questions, eagerly leaning in.

“No.” he says sourly.

Dean rolls his eyes. “Look closer.”

Castiel looks for the hell of it… and… nothing. Big surprise.

“I see nothing but your lumberjack clothes and this infuriating mirror.”

Dean chuckles at his discomfort. “And who’s in the mirror jackass?”

Castiel looks back, just to confirm.

“Me?”

Whatever Dean is about to say is cut off by Jack’s sudden entrance.

“Hey guys!” He announces brightly. “What’s happening?”

Dean’s expression falters.

“Jack.” Castiel nearly pleads. “Can we talk later?”

Jack’s eyes narrow and some sort of understanding descends. “I see.” He says crisply, casting a lingering look towards Dean. “I know what’s going on here.”

He gives them one last lingering stare before stepping out of the room. A loud, cheery turn can be heard as he retreats: “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.” Clap! Clap!

He turns back to Dean expectantly.

But Dean only chuckles. “I’m kidding Cass.” He says evenly. “There’s no one I’m settling down with. That’s just not in the cards for me.”

Castiel can’t believe that Dean would do this to him… crush his spirits in a way he doubts he can undo. It’s inhumane. It’s heart-breaking. It’s the only future he can look forward to.

…

Jack isn’t an idiot. In fact, he’s grown a lot in him time on earth.

He has eyes… eyes that see more than most. It wasn’t hard to figure out what would make Castiel happy enough for the entity to swallow him whole.

So that’s why when Castiel insisted that he keep his deal from the Winchesters, Jack disobeyed.

He told Sam and he told Dean.

They ranted and raged and threatened to confront Cass.

But Jack eventually calmed them. He wasn’t quite ready to reveal the nature of what would cause Castiel’s happiness. That would only cause further strain between him and Dean.

No, he wouldn’t do that to Castiel. Their relationship could be sustained within those parameters. So long as Dean and Castiel remained solely friends, everything would be fine.

Instead he created a code phrase, that would warn Sam and Dean if they're doing something that might invoke Castiel's deal… his own version of the brother’s ‘Poughkeepsie.’ Jacks code phrase is more elegant though; matching the situation:

‘If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.’ Clap! Clap!

That means, stop everything and run.


End file.
